Thursday’s big news out of the cryptosphere was an agreement between VISA and Coinbase on of the largest cryptocurrency platform providers. Coinbase released a statement saying that they approved to be a Visa Principle Member (VPM). A Visa Principle Member is a financial institution that is authorized to act as an “issuing bank” allowing them to issue VISA credit cards and provide transaction services.

Becoming a VPM

This is a big step for any institution but for a sector once an No No for VISA it is a surprising move forward and shows the acceptance and validates the entire cryptocurrency range.

“This is a huge accomplishment for the cryptocurrency industry and a boost towards adoption. Per the official announcement by Coinbase, they have received a membership status from Visa. This is a step towards wider recognition of crypto businesses as the clean ones. At the same time, Coinbase customers will have more opportunities to spend cryptocurrencies and cash both online and offline.” Says CoinSpeaker.

Coinbase Press Release

Coinbase said that the new membership with Visa allows Coinbase to offer the card in 29 markets with support for 10 cryptocurrencies. “This membership will enable us to offer more features for Coinbase Card customers; from additional services to support in more markets — all elements that will help to evolve and enrich the cryptocurrency payment experience,”

VISA financial network

The VISA credit card is one of the worlds biggest financial network. VISA is a middleman or intermediary between two parties who to do a transaction. When the parties are no located closely together, cash is not an alternative so there needs to be an alternative to provide the two parties a way to transact that is secure and guaranteed. Sounds similar to what bitcoin offers. This was the exclusive field for credit card providers such as VISA, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. They all have been trying a way to deal with the new kid on the block.

VISA & Anchorage

In another show of acceptance VISA this week led a round of invest in a cryptocurrency custody service known as Anchorage. Anchorage had already raised 17 million dollar in a previous round.  VISA and Anchorage are both members of Facebook’s Libra project.

Chain Investment

This new investment followed a previous investment by VISA in blockchain startup Chain. This which was also in conjunction with Nasdaq and Citibank.  Just a few months ago Anchorage introduced its insurance coverage solution

The new round of funding will be used by Anchorage to provide an alternative secure wallet.